A bowl of noodles by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #Inkscape #food #illustration
A very good friend who reached out for help losing weight asked me where to start. I asked her if she had read my recent post on my nutritional methods, and she said she had not. I asked her to start there.
In the mean time, I asked her some questions about her body, and she was brave enough to share the answers. With the answers, I was able to give her a plan. The plan looks like this:
She is 31, 5’2″, sedentary, and 192 pounds, which means that:
Her BMI is 35. BMI of 30 and above indicates a higher frequency of heart disease and other ailments, and is commonly called obesity. I am obese as well, and it means that we should both weigh less than we do for health.
Her Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is 1614 calories and her Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1631 calories. This means that if she were in a coma, her body would still burn over 1600 calories.
Her Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is 1957 calories. This means that this is what she burns in an average day, with all of her walking, driving, and living.
A reasonable deficit to lose weight, about a pound a week, is 500 calories per day below TDEE, so 1957-500 = 1457 calories. If she eats only 1457 calories a day, she will lose about a pound a week. With exercise, it will be more, but exercise is not necessary, just recommended.
So, using the analogy of money I refer to in my post above, she is walking around with $1450 in calories to spend each day.
Here are some common fast food items that will use most of this allowance. http://www.acaloriecounter.com/fast-food-calories.php
The 7-layer Taco Bell burrito she ate the other day is about a third of her daily calories. http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-taco-bell-7-layer-burrito-i56065 is worth about $500 in calories.
Alternatively, she can get a lot more for her money by eating vegetables and fruits. Most servings of a cup are less than 100 calories each. She could either eat one large fast food sandwich, 3 burritos, or 14 cups of vegetables in a day, and no matter which of these she chooses, she would be under her calorie goal, though there are great mental and energy benefits to the latter. http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.html
The key is to know how many calories she is eating, and how many she should eat. If she stays below her goal, she will lose. It’s that simple.
If you’d like me to help you with your nutritional profile, contact me at lemasney@gmail.com. I’d love to help you get healthy.
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Do you keep a food log? I keep hearing this is a good way to lose weight.
I do indeed keep a food log, and I just noticed you signed up there. Cheers!
Ahhh I have a book that puts this concept into photos. Makes you really think about your food choices. It’s called “Picture Perfect Weight Loss”. But if you must have Taco Bell, the Fresco menu is a better choice. A Fresco chicken soft taco is the lowest in fat and calories at 150 cal/ 3.5 g fat. I rarely eat fast food but when I do, that is what I get.
yeah, if you must eat at Taco Bell, the fresco menu is the way to go, for sure.
It’s so funny last night I was taking my daughter to Taco Bell and I had my dinner planned at home, but that darn menu with the new Cantina Bowl and the fact that they had veggie bowl (I’m a vegetarian) I thought I’ll try it…without knowing what was in it. It was a nasty bowl of goop. Lots of white rice, some kind of dressing, very little lettuce. I won’t be doing that again.
Yeah, the truth-in-advertising issue is in full swing at the bell. 🙂
If you like eating out, just ask for the nutritional information or use your smart phone. All chain resturaunts have the info online. Advertising can be very misleading, making you think that buying their “salad” would be a better choice but with all the add ins, it turns out to have more fat and calories than a burger.
To avoid being tempted to get food on the run, pack some fruit,veggies or low fat granola bar when you know you will be out a while. Read the ingredients on boxes too. Some things advertised as low fat might have corn syrup as the first ingredient. I’ve made that mistake.
Yeah, I tend to avoid places that do not publish their nutritional info, though some of my favorites don’t, like diners. Also, I never expect the chef at my local restaurant to make the same dish twice, which makes it guesswork. I also tend to eat food I recognize every part of, and try to avoid gravy and sauces because they are so hard to do the guesswork for. I have a big bowl of in-shell nuts by my desk which makes it a slow process and ritual to eat them, which is great. More importantly, I count every one I eat. MyFitnessPal, which is what I use to count calories via phone and web, has a gloriously complete food database. Reading labels is a passion of mine now.
I have noticed that when the fast foods, and meat, and starch are reduced it is amazing how much volume of veges can be put on the plate, and still stay under the caloric goal.
Congradulations on your progress.
Yeah, this is essentially the argument put forth in Volumetrics, which I subscribe to and agree with, though not methodically.
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